It was the Sharks again this week who had the most dominant victory of the South African teams. Their opposition was a fired up never say die Cheetahs team. It wasn’t a perfect performance from the visiting Sharks but anyone can attest to it this season, it’s not that easy coming away from Bloem with a victory, not to mention scoring 4 tries in the process. Seven Sharks players have made it into our team.

The other victory in the South African conference came from the Stormers. Even though they haven’t dominated teams on the scoreboard, the ten out of eleven wins so far this season certainly says something about this team. They looked like they were going to prove a thing or two on attack in the first half, but then shut down in the second and again earned a victory by some awesome defense. They have 5 players in our team this week.

The Bulls suffered a somewhat surprising loss against a determined Highlanders team. In a game where one got the feeling that they may have taken their opposition too lightly until it was too late. The Lions keep on struggling and the Cheetahs could never quite find their way into a game that the Sharks decided to dominate from the get go. The Bulls have 2 and the Cheetahs 1 spot in our team.

15. Joe Pietersen (4)

By far the best fullback this week. He was composed as usual and is a real threat when he keeps the ball in hand.

14. JP Pietersen (3) (2 at Outside Centre)

He may not be all the excitement some other wings in this competition have produced, but when JP touches the ball you know he’s getting over the advantage line for your team. He looks far more comfortable back in his old position.

13. Paul Jordaan (2)

The magic he brings every time he touches the ball is very clear, although he has not yet been given that much chance on attack. It’s on defence that he has impressed again, not missing one tackle.

12. Jean de Villiers (3)

Not much expansive line breaking attack from him or his team, but he produced a masterful all round performance again.

11. Lwazi Mvovo (7)

Every time he catches the ball something happens, he knows how to dance through defenders and leave them in his dust.

10. Peter Grant (3)

Fred had a good game, but we decided that we’ll pick one of the South African players in this conference. Grant’s accurate kicking out of hand and at goal, has been an integral part of his team’s success.

9. Francois Hougaard (7)

He is extremely dangerous when he finds himself in some space. It is still debatable whether he should be playing scrum half or wing, but there’s no doubt that he is one of the most electrifying players around.

8. Keegan Daniel (3)

His work rate has never been in question. He gets involved in the game as much as any other loose forward. It has mostly been his error rate and to some extent his captaincy that have been questioned and both of these have been quietly improving.

7. Marcell Coetzee (8)

Maybe not his most prominent game, but when your hooker is literally walking over tacklers then your load has to be eased a little. He still gets over the advantage line every time the ball is given to him.

6. Siya Kolisi (4)

A welcome return to our team for the youngster. He hasn’t had the support of his more experienced loose forward partners and has had to get used to playing in a few different combinations, but Kolisi seems to be back to his usual self this week.

5. Juandre Kruger (5)

There was no contest on his throw and after a while the opposition didn’t even fancy their chances on their own throw and started to avoid line-outs all together. A very imposing performance from the up and coming lock.

4. Eben Etzebeth (6)

In my opinion by far the best in his position in this conference. None of our other locks can make the metres like he does on attack.

3. WP Nel (6)

Again a very good overall performance from Nel, he came up against what will probably be the Bok front row and more than stood his ground.

2. Bismarck du Plessis (5)

Boom! Who said I was second in the pecking order? What a determined performance. He hit guys harder with ball in hand than he ever did on defence. Just saying.

1. Beast Mtwarira *

He has had a definite influence on the scrums and this week enjoyed a couple of those familiar runs. Its really good to see him fit again.

Regular readers will stand a chance to a win three night stay at LaLuxe (at the end of the Super Rugby Competition) and if you make a booking during a Sharks home game your prize will include 2 tickets to the match. All you have to do is keep coming back for Sharksworld’s Team of the Week.

20 Comments

Juandre Kruger is definitely a competitor for a Bok jersey. Maybe not as tall as Bekker but he can play a great game of rugby.

Comment 1, posted at 23.05.12 11:05:50 by StevieS

Fred at 10 for me, easily.

Comment 2, posted at 23.05.12 11:27:10 by Salmonoid

Adriaan Strauss was very, very good, Bismarck was better. Heyneke Meyer was smiling.

Comment 3, posted at 23.05.12 11:35:58 by Salmonoid

Pity WP Nel is off overseas as well

Comment 4, posted at 23.05.12 11:39:42 by Bokhoring

@Salmonoid (Comment 3) : Apparently Supersport disagrees with you; they’ve gone for Strauss. Having said that, they also didn’t deem the period of play leading up to JPP’s try worthy of inclusion in a highlights package, so I guess that tells you all you need to know about them… Actually, I’m being harsh, there’s a remarkably high number of Sharks in their team of the week.

Comment 5, posted at 23.05.12 11:48:19 by Culling Song

Good ratings accept Fred in my view, when he played poorly we let it out and said so, he now has a brilliant match and in the name of he aint a local we dont give him the same accolades???

@Salmonoid (Comment 2) : @sharks_lover (Comment 6) : Bear in mind that our team of the week, be design, only includes South African players playing for South African teams… it’s our version of the Bok Barometer, if you will.

So yes, Fred was great, but his passport is the wrong colour to be included here.

Comment 8, posted at 23.05.12 13:25:18 by robdylan

BTW you have Grant up for his goal-kicking. I did not watch the entire game = so who missed the other kicks = as Verusco has the Stormers with 60% goal kicking success in the game

Comment 9, posted at 23.05.12 13:31:27 by Bokhoring

@Culling Song (Comment 5) : interesting, especially considering their (Supersports) commentators named Bismark as the MOTM, this despite spending 10 in the bin.